Bowling over Series Average MEN: Jerry Jepson, 445 (76 pins over series average)WOMEN: Cheryl Cervantes, 464 (68 pins over series average)

]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:21:35 -0700Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:17:43 -0700First, identify the styles of you and your partner, then gain skill and awareness that leads to effective fighting, which can be a healthy aspect of any romance.]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700Outside Native American culture, which dates back thousands of years, the American West lacks institutions and traditions with real age to them. After all, the huge waves of settlement by emigrants from Europe didn’t begin washing over the West until the 1840s.

But one local institution — the Yamhill County Fair & Rodeo, due to wrap up this year’s run Saturday — manages to combine one of America’s oldest traditions in its fair component and one of the West’s earliest traditions in its rodeo component.

Trade fairs date back to at least 500 B.C. And they were traditionally agricultural in nature, as agricultural goods dominated pre-industrial commerce around the planet.

By 1765, a decade before the Declaration of Independence set the colonies on their course to statehood, fairs were already being held in the New World. They were typically hosted by local agricultural societies.

The practice of staging such fairs on the state and county levels shifted west with the great migration of the 1840s, and Yamhill County was home to Oregon’s first. Sponsored by the Yamhill County Agricultural Society, it was staged in the then-county seat of Lafayette in 1854, five years before Oregon achieved statehood.

According to the Oregon Historical Society, “(The) exhibition commenced at the courthouse at 1:30 p.m.” It featured quilts, butter, cheese and such, judged by a jury of local dignitaries.

Down the way at Markham’s Corral, another panel judged livestock, including horses, mules, sheep, hogs and oxen, and field crops, including corn and wheat. According to a history compiled by former extension agent Louis Gross, “A specimen of corn on the ear was exhibited by F.B. Martin; Joseph Wall exhibited a stool of wheat supposed to be production of one grain of blue stem variety, numbering 96 full, large heads.”

A strictly New World invention, rodeo began with Spanish vaqueros in the early 1700s. Their duties included roping, breaking and riding horses, and roping, wrestling and branding cattle. That led naturally to competition to see who had best mastered such arts, and it was soon emulated by cowboys across the American West.

SHERIDAN — Five local youth suffered injuries last Saturday morning in a single-vehicle crash north of Highway 18B at the intersection of Southwest Cherry Hill Road and Regia Drive.

The driver of the 2002 Lexus sport utility vehicle was identified by Yamhill County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Chris Ray as Bryce Aguayo-Strobi, 17, of Sheridan.

He was charged with one count each of fourth-degree assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. He was ordered to appear in circuit court.

Other occupants of the vehicle were identified as Alycia Lefever, 19, of rural McMinnville; Nathan rentsch and Kevin Whisman, both 18 of McMinnville, and an unidentified 17-year-old female.

Their injuries ranged from minor to moderate, according to Sheridan Fire District spokesperson Wesley Rolfson.

When the first Sheridan Fire District crew arrived, two occupants were already out of the vehicle and two more were in the process of getting out. The fifth needed assistance, Rolfson said.

The five were transported by ambulance to the Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville.

Aguayo allegedly lost control of the vehicle on a sharp curve. Alcohol and speed were factors, according to Ray.

The McMinnville Fire Department joined the Sheridan and West Valley fire districts in responding. The vehicle sustained heavy damage on the passenger side and roof.